Lava strykewyrm/Strategies (2024)

Lava strykewyrms are high level Slayer creatures that have very good drops. A Slayer level of 94 is required in order to inflict damage on them; a slayer task is not required in order to harm them, unlike their lesser cousins.

When killing lava strykewyrms, carrying the Wilderness sword 4 is highly recommended as while it is likely that it will be lost upon death, it notes their 100% searing ashes drop, negating the need to carry magic notepaper to note them. There are two bankers near the lava strykewyrms; Edmond and Darren. It is advised to bank with Darren if not planning to rebank in Edgeville as Edmond has a very large wander range.

As lava strykewyrms are in the Wilderness, players should be aware that they may be attacked at any time by other players. Players should not bring items they are not willing to lose.

Getting there[]

Lava strykewyrms are exclusively found in the Wilderness, just south of the Lava Maze. The area they inhabit covers level 35-42 Wilderness.

There are multiple ways to reach them quickly:

• Use the Wilderness obelisks and teleport until arriving at the level 35 or 44 obelisks. Run west if arriving at the level 35 obelisk, or southeast if arriving from the level 44 obelisk.
• Use a lava titan pouch to teleport right outside the entrance of the Lava Maze.
• Teleport to the Bloodweed Patch using any Wilderness sword, then run west.

Mechanics[]

A wyrm initially appears as a mound on the ground. Before combat can be initiated with the wyrm, the mound must be investigated, like any other strykewyrm mound. This action causes the wyrm to burst out of the ground and attack the player who investigated the mound. It should be noted that there can be an even larger mound (this spawns the WildyWyrm, and attempting to interact with it will lead to a confirmation message).

Lava strykewyrms have high combat stats, but their defence is significantly lower. A tier 80 weapon while under the effects of an overload, their respective turmoil curse and a Slayer assignment will result in 100% accuracy.

As lava strykewyrms are immune to stuns, they will immediately attack the player who investigated their mound. Lava strykewyrms use all three forms of combat:

• Melee: Standard melee attack that can be avoided by running out of range.
• Ranged: Lava projectile that will land around the player before homing in on them. The attack can be avoided by being far enough from the projectile when it lands, though it is better to simply tank the incoming attack.
• Magic: A fire projectile that deals heavy damage.

When killing lava strykewyrms, Protect/Deflect Magic should always be on as their magic attack can hit the hardest. Prayer flicking is advised as their ranged attack can be damaging, though not as hard as their magic attack. If players have high magic defence, then leaving Protect/Deflect Missiles on instead can be more effective. Stay out of melee range to avoid their melee attack.

As with their lesser cousins, lava strykewyrms can also utilise burrow attacks. In addition to the standard burrow attack, lava strykewyrms have a unique twist on this attack. When a player is within 6 spaces of the strykewyrm, they will always use this burrow attack. When used, the strykewyrm burrows into the ground, dragging the player on top of the ensuing mound. If the player does not get away in time when it bursts from the ground, the player will take 50% of their current life points as damage and have their protection prayers/curses disabled. This attack is classified as a stun, so using Freedom or Anticipation will prevent the strykewyrm from dragging the player.

Unlike their other cousins that do this at random, lava strykewyrms will automatically perform the burrow attack after some time has passed upon surfacing. Sometimes when standing far enough from the strykewyrm, it may attempt to burrow but fail, resulting in a brief period where it will not attack the player.

Going under a lava strykewyrm will result in it applying stomp damage to the player.

Lava strykewyrms are aggressive once disturbed and will not burrow back underground even if the player is hiding from it. They will only do so if the player moves far enough, logs out or is fighting another player. Note that in the event of a player attacking you, you will need to attack your aggressor first; otherwise, the strykewyrm will continue attacking you.

Dealing with other players[]

To escape from attackers, players can run south to level 30 Wilderness, then use an appropriate teleport method such as a charged dragonstone jewellery. However, as player killers may carry runes for Teleport Block, you will most likely have to run all the way down to the wall if they manage to teleblock you. For this case, having an augmented piece of equipment with the Mobile perk is highly recommended for your trips. Some player killers may use Leech Energy, so carrying some form of run restore items (summer pie or super energy potions) may be useful.

Good food should be brought (either sharks or rocktails), alongside a few Saradomin brews to "brew-eat", restoring a significantly larger amount of health compared to eating food alone. Always play safe in the Wilderness, banking after a set amount of kills; while it's possible to never encounter a PKer during a trip, you certainly don't want to be caught off guard with very little food. You should always keep your health as high as possible when fighting lava strykewyrms.

Never try to battle your attacker unless you are certain that they are alone, as most are almost certain to be part of a group devoted to "skull tricking". Always remember where the multi-way combat areas are located, as if you fight your attacker, they may stand on top of each other hoping for you to use a multi-target ability and get skulled as a result. You should never attempt to escape your aggressor via forinthry dungeon as teams can strategically pile in this area, and this also extends to the area immediately south of the lava strykewyrms (western outer-edge of wilderness volcano). Instead, you should make your way south-west of the lava strykewyrms into single-way combat, whereupon you should proceed to run south to the wall.To decrease the chances of getting skull tricked, set your PvP settings to "Hidden". You should also watch out for large familiars like the pack mammoth, as you can skull yourself if you attack the familiar of another player who has not attacked you.

At best, you should only bring three or four items to ensure that they will not be lost in the event of death. While it's possible to keep five if using Protect Item while being under the effects of a fury shark (which the strykewyrms drop), you may lose an item if the fury shark's effects run out before you are killed. Always watch your prayer points to ensure that you do not get smited. Bringing two-handed weaponry is also recommended, as while more expensive, you can bring another piece of armour for better defensive bonuses. For this reason, the ranged combat style is often preferred as it affords the player the option of utilising a shield bow (namely the 'strykebow') which will ensure you are able to retain modest accuracy against the strykewyrms while also prolonging survival by virtue of defensive abilities being made available. Additionally, the gear supporting the ranged combat style works tactically against PKers geared with mage, and allows adrenaline to be stalled and gained more effectively while a strykewyrm is burrowed (due to combat persisting).

• Magic

• Ranged

Recommended equipment for Magic

Slot	Item (most effective → least effective)
	Corrupted slayer helmet (If on slayer task)	Ganodermic visor	Ahrim's hood	Skeletal helm	N/A
	Saradomin's hiss	N/A	N/A	Amulet of glory	N/A
	God capes	Lunar cape	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Seasinger's robe top	Ganodermic poncho	Ahrim's robe top	Skeletal top	N/A
	Seasinger's robe bottom	Ganodermic leggings	Ahrim's robe skirt	Skeletal bottoms	N/A
	Seasinger kiba	Wand of the Cywir elders	Attuned crystal wand	N/A	N/A
	Noxious staff	Staff of darkness	Chaotic staff/ Attuned crystal staff	N/A	N/A
	Seasinger makigai	Attuned crystal orb	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Culinaromancer's gloves 10	Ganodermic gloves	Skeletal gloves	N/A	N/A
	Ganodermic boots	Skeletal boots	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Sixth-Age circuit	Seers' ring	N/A	N/A	N/A

Ranged has the advantage of the Hellfire bow, which means the player will not have to bring their own ranged weapon if they obtain one. However, it does come with drawbacks of its own (refer to the page on disadvantages).

Recommended equipment for Ranged

Slot	Item (most effective → least effective)
	Corrupted slayer helmet (If on slayer task)	Sirenic mask	Death Lotus hood	Royal dragonhide coif	N/A
	Saradomin's murmur	Amulet of glory	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Ava's device	Team cape (if all Wilderness tasks are completed)	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Sirenic hauberk	Death Lotus chestplate	Royal dragonhide body	Black dragonhide body	N/A
	Sirenic chaps	Death Lotus chaps	Royal dragonhide chaps	Black dragonhide chaps	N/A
	Ascension crossbow	Death lotus dart	Chaotic crossbow/ Attuned crystal chakram	N/A	N/A
	Hellfire bow	Noxious longbow	Attuned crystal bow/ Royal crossbow	N/A	N/A
	Off-hand Ascension crossbow	Off-hand death lotus dart	Off-hand chaotic crossbow/ Off-hand attuned crystal chakram	N/A	N/A
	Royal spiky vambraces	Culinaromancer's gloves 10	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Sixth-Age circuit	Archers' ring	N/A	N/A	N/A

An enhanced luck potion can be used here in replacement of a ring of fortune or luck of the dwarves. The potions are relatively cheap at 48,887 and last 1 hour.

Also, while the mighty slayer helmet is the best helmet for when on task, the helmet comes out to a cost of 2,670,355 for a 15% accuracy/damage boost. However, the parts used to make the helmet can be used separately at a much cheaper price at the downside of 12.5% accuracy/damage boost instead. Focus sight at 15,687, hexcrest at 13,681, and black mask at 2,640,987. Accuracy is not a problem if using tier 90 or higher weaponry with overloads and its respective turmoil. The 2.5% damage loss from using the component rather than the slayer helmet can be substituted for with the 4% damage bonus from the Stone of Jas' residual energy (requiring completion of Ritual of the Mahjarrat).